Load carriers, e.g. sports equipment carriers, e.g. bicycle carriers, also referred to as bike carriers, can usually be mounted to a towing bar arranged at the rear of a vehicle. Load carriers serve their purpose when in use, but can be cumbersome when stored, e.g. in a garage, or when moved from a storage position to an operating position on the vehicle.
The European Patent No. EP 2,703,224 B1, Thule Sweden AB, discloses a load carrier for carrying a bicycle. The load carrier is foldable, with two pivotable load receiving portions pivotally connected to a center piece. A license plate holder is positioned on the center piece. The foldable, or pivotable, load carrier can be made less bulky, permitting it to be tucked away and stored in an easy manner.
A foldable load carrier may comprise a hook securing each pivotable load receiving portion in a vertical folded position for storage and in a horizontal unfolded position for use. Each hook can be operated by a release lever. In order to unfold the load receiving sections, a user has to press the release lever located near the rotation center of the load receiving sections, which is hard to reach since it is located between the folded load receiving sections. At the same time the load receiving sections have to be pushed in opposite direction of the unfolding direction in order to allow the hook to disengage. A two hand operation is thus required to successfully unfold each load receiving section.